Octubafest 2014

For my second concert report, I attended Octubafest 2014 on Monday October 27 at 7:00 PM in Ford Hall. The show was highlighted the Tuba/Euphonium Studio which played an array of music ranging from classical to latin to pop while also dressing up in some pretty goofy and outrageous Halloween costumes!

One of my favorite pieces from the entire recital had to be Introduction to Dance. The tune featured a solo euphonium player accompanied by a pianist. I found the composition to be quite eery and intense. I felt this way through out the piece mostly because of the dissonant chord's that were played on the piano. The piano struck these auspicious chords almost as an emphasis during the euphonium's solo. Towards the end of the arrangement, I was able to identify two consecutive sentences. The basic ideas and continuations of these sentences, in particular the final sentence of the chart, were built around ascending triads. These triads would crescendo and accelerate to build a high level of tension until the euphonium player blared out the final emphatic note of the piece. For me this piece revoked the ideals of Romanticism, more specifically the theme of the rise of the individual since Introduction to Dance highlighted the solo euphonium player.

The following composition, Euphonium Concerto II. Lento, had contrasting moods towards the previous piece. Like Introduction to Dance, this tune featured a solo euphonium player accompanied by a pianist. This time, however, the piano's harmonies were more light and elegant. The piano in this piece played a bit more softer at a dynamic of piano, whereas the piano in Introduction to Dance played at a dynamic of forte. I also took note during certain parts of the piece that the piano alternated pleasant and dissonant chords which jumbled up my mood. At times I wasn't sure how I should react towards the tune. As for the solo euphonium player, I found the melody to have singing-quality with the light vibrato used. I imagined a melancholy love though out the arrangement, specifically someone singing his/her lover to return to his/her grasp.

After Euphonium Concerto II. Lento came Selections from Halloween Suite. For this set, the musicians played This Is Halloween and Thriller. The fact that Thriller was played by tubas a euphoniums was a kind of unusual and strange. I'm used to the actual recording of the song and marching and jazz band arrangements where song is more loud, vibrant, and zesty. With just tubas and euphoniums playing it, the tune is not as blaring and has more of a mellow, rich sound.

On the whole, I enjoyed Octubafest 2014. I've never really heard the sound of euphonium and I have to admit that it makes a beautiful sound. One last thing I noticed was how the more dramatic pieces ended in a loud staccato or mercado note while the more gentle pieces ended in a soft whole note. I feel as if these types of endings suite the established moods of those pieces.

Caspar David Friedrich --- Wanderer Above the Sea Mist

Right off the bat when I took my first glance at Wanderer Above the Sea Mist, I noticed the painting conveyed the individualism. Clearly, the main focus of the painting is this single man atop this mountain, gazing across the landscape. One predominant characteristic of Romanticism was the rise of the individual/dreamer. In Friedrich's painting, we see a single man that has risen to the highest peak of a mountain or hill above the clouds. For me, I got the sense that the man is looking out onto this vast and endless mountainous scene right in front of him and is dreaming, according to the romantic individual, of ceaseless opportunities and potential that come his way. Also, I thought this connects to the music of the nineteenth century. A lot of romantic music focused on the solos in music, specifically piano solos. In addition, one of the key themes of romantic music is individual feeling. Through the use of solos, a single performer is able to express his/her own unique thoughts and emotions on an idea presented in a musical composition.

Another Romantic ideal I found prominent was the glorification of nature. During this time period, nature was portrayed through awesome, powerful, and even horrifying elements. This painting in particular, most of the aspects that I examined I found to be somewhat ominous and eery. Personally, I found the presence of the clouds/haze cover the majority of the landscape to be unclear, unsettling and auspicious. The clouds/haze masking the environment in front of the individual gave me the sense that what the dreamer is searching deeply for answers through the white veil blanketing the setting and the man's thoughts.

One last Romantic ideal I explored was the pursuit of spiritual self-awareness. Reverting back to what I said before in regards to the man trying to search for answers, I believe that those answers that he is searching for are about himself. He is yearning for the unknown and the unknowable. My guess at what the man might be thinking about his maybe his health. I'm not entirely sure if what he has is a cane or a walking stick, but assuming it's a cane, I felt as if he is pondering about his future and how his health will affect it and is dreaming of good fortune later in his life.

Joseph Haydn - Symphony No. 45 in F-sharp minor "Farewell" (Mackerras)

I decided to analyze the a phrase of Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 45 in F-sharp minor "Farewell" (Mackerras). The piece is written in a 3/4 time signature. This gives the song waltz-like quality to it. However, I didn't get that light-hearted feeling that you usually sense when listening to a waltz or any song with dancing quality. I found the tune to be quite heavy, dramatic and serious. I sensed a lot of anger, frustration, and tension throughout the song. The fact that the piece is written in such an obscure key, F-sharp minor, contributes to the eerie atmosphere surrounding the music. The dynamic changes also emphasize the emotion and drama. I pictured two distraught lovers bickering with one and another to the point in which utter chaos breaks out and one of them barges out of the doors, leaving the other lover with the feeling of guilt and wanting to mend the relationship they once had.

I chose the beginning phrase of the song (0:00-0:15) for my analysis. Immediately I recognized the sentence phrase from the first two measures. The basic idea is established in the first two measures with the descending quarter note arpeggios. The idea is repeated in the preceding two measures, except its played a half-step above (this builds the tension within the phrase). Then comes the continuation which is four measures long. Here, the first two measures of the song are presented once again and all the sudden, a rapid fire of sixteenth notes explode out of the violins, creating utter madness. The continuation ends on the tonic chord, thus ending on a perfect authentic cadence.

Sentence Phrase Diagram:

The phrase I chose and dissected represents the ideals of the Enlightenment period. It symbolizes the conversations between solonnieres that occur in the salons. One person would present an idea/topic for discussion (basic idea). Another person would then share his/her perspective on the idea/topic (basic idea repeated). Then there would be much heated discussion and argument between the solonnieres (continuation) until they finally reached an overall consensus on the subject matter (ending on a PAC).